Enlightenment
by galadriel-freak
Summary: My first Babylon 5 fic, and a crossover with Stargate at that... Keep reading... it's better then it sounds... Marcus gets a visitor while he's saving Susan... It's short I know, I wrote it during my lunch break...


_Well... this is my first Babylon 5 fic... I wrote it during my lunch break today... It's a StarGate crossover that I've thought about a few times... I hope you enjoy it... hopefully you guys get the reference at the very end... it comes from a classic scene... grin_

...oooOOOooo...

Marcus' eyes were growing heavy, his head rested on Susan's bed, he no longer had the strength to hold it up on his own. His eyes slowly fluttered, he struggled to keep them open.

The next time they shut, they opened to the bridge of a White Star. A bright warm light bathed his vision, it didn't hurt his eyes though, as blinding as it was. The weakness in his body was gone, he wondered around the empty bridge in disbelief. None of the control panels were working, they sat dark and lifeless under his fingers. As he looked up, he came face to face with a strange woman, dressed in Ranger's clothing. "Hello Marcus."

"Hello... and who might you be?" he walked around the console and walked up to the shorter woman.

"I am that whom has come to help you," she smiled.

"Cryptic... I didn't know I needed help. I thought I had things pretty much under control back there."

"We are all seeking help along the path, few are lucky to find it."

"... right... the path...ah, where's Susan?" Marcus looked around the bridge.

"She is where she was... I have come to help only you."

"Why me, am I one of these 'lucky few.'"

"Questions will be all answered in time."

"What do I call you. At least give me that."

"Some call me Oma."

"Oma... and I'm guessing this isn't the White Star is it"

"You have the potential inside, death does not have to be the end," she changed the subject.

"The end of what, I _want_ to save her, she doesn't need to die, this is my choice."

"Everything is a choice, but when the leaf falls from the tree, it does not mean it's journey is over."

"Excuse me?"

"Without regard for your own life, you save her's."

"She is worth saving."

"Whose to say who's life is greater?"

"I am... it is my life to do with as i will... and decide who to give it for," slowly he got more tense, he didn't want to defend his actions.

"You are still seeking relief from what has wounded your heart."

"I resigned myself long ago that I'd never be able to close that wound. I sought out a purpose, I've found it. Susan is part of that purpose, Susan _will_ live, she's worth it, worth everything."

"How do you know the candlelight is fire?"

"... what?... you... you just know, that's how," Marcus was usually in control of his emotions and actions, but the emotion of the past few days was eating away from his nerves.

"Whether one lives or dies is something we cannot control." Oma said as calm as ever, Marcus could have sworn he saw a twinge of a smirk on her face, like she was enjoying this.

"Says who?"

"Water flows freely, one cannot control which way it will travel."

"I can build a dam."

"Dams break."

"What do you want from me, tell me. Why are we having this surreal conversation while I am dying. Let me see Susan again before I am too dead to do so." He turned his back to her frustrated.

"Release your burdens and the journey will continue."

His head fell into his hand, "You sound like a Vorlon."

"Trust me Marcus, the path is in front of you."

He turned and paused, "What if i can't see it?"

"Enlightenment comes from within. When the mind is enlightened the spirt is free and the body matters not."

"Well, I'm plenty enlightened, just ask around."

"One must believe in their own enlightenment."

"You really must talk to a Vorlon, interesting to see whose head explodes first..." He imitated an explosion with his hands, eyes wide.

"Release your burdens, leave your baggage here..."

"I have no baggage, all I have is what you see."

"...It weighs down your spirit."

Marcus paused, "What's out there," eyes drifting beyond the woman to the front windows of the ship

"That which you must discover on your own."

"Can I see Susan again if I go with you?"

"The world is a one way mirror."

"I'm going to take that as a yes?... But she won't be able to see me, will she, to know I'm there, she'll think I'm dead."

"Death is only a step on the path."

"Yes, I'm getting the picture. You know, this is starting to sound like being a ghost."

"Words have many meanings."

"A rose by any other name... see i can do the cryptic thing too you know."

Marcus opened his eyes again, he was next to Susan, their fingers intertwined. With a smile, the last weight on his heart was gone, his task accomplished. As Stephen and others rushed into the room, a blinding light stopped them. The medbay was flooded with a blinding light, tendrils reached out to reach and seemingly touch all of them. When Stephen had blinked away the dots in his eyes he froze. There was only Ivanova lying in her bed, still connected to the machine, but no one was connected the other end anymore.

...oooOOOooo...

Days later, after breaking down in the infirmary and with no body to grieve over, Susan returned to her quarters. She collapsed on her couch, her mind flooded with too many thoughts and emotions to think straight. Too numb to cry anymore. Her head rolled back to the couch and she peered toward the bedroom, something on the dresser caught her eye after a minute. It didn't immediately register as being important, a few moments later she found the strength and got up with a sigh. As she got closer and realized what it was, her heart quickened with each step.

Carefully set in the middle of her dresser was a small figure, a dashing knight in shining armor, sitting on a white unicorn.

...oooOOOooo...

_see that little button below... please use it... let me know what you think... just remember it was written very quickly... grin_


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